Radio disc jockey on the big screen Radio disc jockey on the big screen (April 16, 2004)

Friend of celebrities grew up in Mountain View

By Julie O'Shea

He schmoozed with Andy Warhol and calls Cher his surrogate mom. He receives annual birthday party invites from Brooke Shields and can actually say he's been stalked by Courtney Love.

But long before he was dubbed the "Mayor of the Sunset Strip," Rodney Bingenheimer was just another shy, skinny, short kid from Mountain View with a pageboy haircut and a penchant for rock 'n' roll music. He worked at the A&W root beer stand along El Camino Real and hung out at the Mountain View Music Center. In his spare time, he raised pet pigeons and trained a duck to follow him to school.

"I was a curious kid, kind of the outcast, unusual," the soft-spoken Bingenheimer said in a phone interview from his Los Angeles home on Monday.

No one ever imagined that this quiet boy who grew up idolizing celebrities and the allure of fame would go on to become one of Tinsel Town's biggest movers and shakers. Shortly after landing in Hollywood more than three decades ago, Bingenheimer morphed into one of Los Angeles' most beloved and influential radio disc jockeys, introducing such bands as Blondie, the Sex Pistols, Nirvana and Coldplay to the airwaves.

Bingenheimer's six-room apartment, which sits near Sunset Boulevard, is wallpapered with memorabilia from famous folks -- a framed letter from President Bill Clinton, a signed poster of Jackie Kennedy and Elvis Presley's driver's permit sit among his treasures.

Although he spent his days rubbing elbows with the rich and famous, no one, least of all Bingenheimer, could have expected his life story would be the catalyst of a big-screen documentary film.

But last Friday, "Mayor of the Sunset Strip" -- a six-year labor of love from some of rock 'n' roll's biggest names -- opened in Bay Area movie theaters to rave reviews.

"This is a movie about Hollywood and fame, and the price of fame," said Chris Carter, the former bass player for the '80s band Dramarama who credits Bingenheimer with jump-starting his career.

Carter, one of the driving forces behind "Mayor," said he had set out to write a book about Bingenheimer's life only to realize the story would work better as a movie.

"I just thought, this was a great story," Carter said. "It's interesting how people can be very popular in Hollywood but very ... lonely."

As the story goes, Bingenheimer's star-struck mother, a waitress at the Los Altos County Club, dropped her son off at the front door of actress Connie Stevens' Los Angeles home when he was 16 years old. The teenager was instructed not to return to Mountain View until he had gotten Stevens' autograph.

Stevens wasn't home that day. But instead of heading to the nearest bus station, Bingenheimer headed toward the Sunset Strip.

The details of his journey into the heart of Hollywood's in-crowd have been recounted dozens of times, but Bingenheimer laughs slightly, explaining that it was never as dramatic as what's been printed.

"If my mother had done that, she would have gone to jail," Bingenheimer said. "I have no regrets. It's been the greatest time, like one big party."

E-mail Julie O'Shea at joshea@mv-voice.com

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